 1786 - 1859 (73 years)
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| Name |
Robert Frank* [1] |
| Born |
1786 |
Yorkshire, England  [1, 2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
01 Jul 1859 [2] |
| Person ID |
I100 |
Brick Street Cemetery |
| Last Modified |
5 Apr 2020 |
| Family 1 |
Elizabeth Dell*, b. 1788, Sussex Co., NJ , d. Jun 1874 (Age 86 years) |
| Married |
05 Jun 1808 |
Niagara [1, 3] |
| Children |
| | 1. William Frank [natural] |
| + | 2. Henry Royal Frank, b. 1810, Stamford, UC , d. 1891, Michigan (Age 81 years) [natural] |
| + | 3. Francis Frank, b. 1816, Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario , d. 1877 (Age 61 years) [natural] |
| | 4. James R. Frank, b. 1817, Upper Canada , d. 03 Dec 1897, Bingham, Huron, Michigan (Age 80 years) [related] |
| + | 5. Mary Elizabeth Frank, b. 1828, Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario , d. 1902 (Age 74 years) [natural] |
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| Last Modified |
5 Apr 2020 |
| Family ID |
F53 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Frank 4
moved from England to New Jersey 1798
moved to Niagara 1804; lived in Stamford Tp, Welland Co 1810
1810-1816 lived in Trafalgar Tp, Halton Co.
1816 arrived Westminster, L39 C1
farmer and blacksmith
"The first wartime incident of squatting in the Byron area seems to have taken place on July 1, 1813 when Nicholas Westbrook assumed Robert Frank's location."
[Byron: Pioneer Days in Westminster Township - Guy St-Denis]
moved to South 1/2 Lot 10 C1, London Township
[Byron: Pioneer Days in Westminster Township - Guy St-Denis, p50] The other non-Watson settler to obtain a location of land in Westminster prior to the War of 1812 was Robert Frank, a native of Yorkshire, England, who was born about 1786. Little is known of his personal history prior to 1804, the year of his immigration to what is now Ontario, except that he evidently settled in New Jersey prior to his departure for Upper Canada. After his arrival in Upper Canada Frank lived in the vicinity of the head of Lake Ontario where he worked a farm on shares and subsequently rented another. By 1810 he was living in Stamford Township, in the former county of Welland, with his wife, Elizabeth, and one son named William.
On June 5 of the same year both Frank and his wife were recomended for grants of land. Being the daughter of Henry Dell, a United Empire Loyalist, Elizabeth Frank was approved for a grant of land. Frank was also eligible for 200 acres for his status as an intending settler; for some reason, however, he does not appear to have been officially located anywhere for almost two years. Ultimately he received a location of lot 39 in the first concession of Westminster on April 10, 1812. It seems that Frank and his family spent the interim on a 100 acre farm in Trafalgar Township, formerly in Halton County, and continued to live there until 1816. In that year Frank settled in Westminster. He had intended to occupy his lot early in the summer of 1812, but when the United States declared war he joined the milita and his service prevented him from settling on his location, for which he had paid the fees, and also from performing the settlement duties.
"Westbrook...entered the province in February of 1810....a follower of Simon Z. Watson. On July 1, 1813 he went on Frank's lot evidently believing that it was really as vacant as it looked, and probably expecting that he would be confirmed there after the war. It is impossible to know what transpired between the two men concerning the lot, and perhaps it is just as well; in the end it was Frank who received the lot. Westbrook, who may have been paid for the work he did on Frank's land, later moved across the Thames River and took up land in neighboruing London Township. Frank was an industrious man, who through hard work, managed to accumulate nearly 1400 acres of land which he eventually divided among the surviving ten of his 11 children.
The subsequent division of his land was complex. The homestead farm on lot 39 was apportioned between his sons, George and Henry. On November 2, 1846 Henry received about 35 acres of this lot on the north side of the Commissioners' Road. On November 2, 1855, exactly nine years later, Henry was given the west half of the farm. George, mentioned above, also got the east half of the lot, except for that portion north of the Commissioners' Road which had been given to his brother. A few years later, on July 1, 1859 Robert Frank died and was buried in the Brick Street Cemetery.
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| Sources |
- [S20] Glen Curnoe records.
- [S10] Brick Street Cemetery marker.
- [S48] Sid Prior notes.
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